It is known to provide an inline, L-shaped or T-shaped adapter to connect a high voltage cable (e.g., one rated at above about 1 kV) to a transformer, for example. The adapter usually has one inwardly-tapering socket in one arm thereof that is a push fit on to a bushing of the transformer, and receives the stripped or terminated end of the cable in another arm aligned with or at right angles thereto. The socket has an electrical contact (male or female) for cooperating with the contact (respectively female or male) of the bushing. The cable may be a push-fit into said other arm, or it may be connected externally of the adapter to a terminal that is molded thereinto, as disclosed in European Patent Application Publication No. 87267. Other adapters, usually of T-shape, have the bushing and cable arms at right angles to each other, and a further arm with a socket aligned with the bushing arm. Such further arm is closed by a removable plug that may allow access to connect the cable mechanically and electrically to the bushing.
With these known adapters, if it is necessary to disconnect the cable from the transformer, or to test or repair the cable or the transformer, the adapter has to be physically removed from the transformer bushing, carrying the cable with it, to ensure electrical isolation between the cable and bushing. This action can be difficult with larger diameter cables (e.g., greater than about 95 sq mm cross-section), and furthermore, can itself cause damage to the cable and/or the connector. Where electrical equipment other than a cable, for example switchgear, is to be connected, it is even more difficult and inconvenient to move the pieces of equipment relative to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,559 describes an adapter that addresses some of these problems by allowing electrical interconnections without significantly affecting the mechanical interconnections between cables and electrical equipment.
Uses of these adapters by workers in the field are generally strictly regulated to provide worker safety in the presence of potentially high voltage signal lines. Such restrictions on use may be problematic, even when using adapters such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,559.